Who was Cora Sue Collins? Former child actress passes away at 98

Cora Sue Collins was an American child actress who appeared in 47 films during the Golden Years of Hollywood. Collins died at 98 at her home in Beverly Hills after suffering complications from a stroke on April 27, as per her daughter, Susie Krieser's announcement to The Hollywood Reporter.

She was well-known for playing the younger versions of Claudette Colbert in Torch Singer, Frances Dee in The Strange Case of Clara Deane, and others.

The actor never transitioned to an adult role later in life, and her last Hollywood project was Jane Rand at Week-End at the Waldorf in 1945, when she was 18. The renowned child actress bagged her first role as Pudge in The Unexpected Father when she was just 5, alongside Slim Summerville and ZaSu Pitts.

Her roles were mainly supportive characters, the leading lady's daughter, or playing the leading lady herself.

In a 2019 interview, Collins looked back at her acting career, saying,

"I must have the most common face in the world. I played either the most famous actresses of the '30s as a child or their child. They made me up to look like everybody."

More about Cora Sue Collins' acting career

Cora Sue Collins was born on April 19, 1927, in Beckley, West Virginia, and moved to Los Angeles, California, with her mother and older sister. In a 2015 interview with Cinephiled, she talked about the incident that got her scouted for Hollywood,

"On the third day we were here. We were walking up to the entrance of the school, my sister and I each holding one of my mother's hands, when this huge car came screeching up. A woman jumped out of the car and said, 'Excuse me, would you like to put your little girl in pictures?' Of course my mother said, 'Yes!' The woman said, 'Get in the car with me, there's a big casting going on right now at Universal."

At the age of 5, Collins began playing the role of the daughter of the main character in films including: The Unexpected Father, Smilin' Through, They Just had to Get Married, and more.

Cora Sue Collins was originally cast as Becky Thatcher in The Adventures of Tom Sawyer (1938). However, her role was changed to Amy Lawrence since she was too tall.

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The actress eventually retired from acting at 18 and married Ivan Stauffer, operator of the Clover Club in Hollywood, in 1943 before divorcing him in 1947. She then went on to marry James McKay, owner of the Cal-Neva Lodge in Lake Tahoe and had three children with him.

Survivors of Cora Sue Collins include her daughters, her son, Trey, and her grandchildren, James, Kevin, and Keith.

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